Illinois voter data likely targeted in Russia hacking

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Russian intelligence officers were charged Friday with hacking into the email servers of the democratic party and the Clinton campaign. Illinois state officials said based on a reference in the indictment, it is likely they also stole voter data from Illinois.

Ahead of the 2016 election, state officials say the database of the Illinois Board of Elections was very likely hacked by Russian intelligence agents.

“Not one vote was changed in Illinois based on what happened two years ago,” said Illinois State Board of Ellections’ Matt Dietrich. “Not one vote was attempted to be changed based on that. That was not the object.”

Federal authorities believed the personal information of a half-million Illinois voters was stolen. But using different methodology, state officials say that number is 76,000.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced conspiracy charges Friday against 12 Russians. The bulk of the 29-page indictment details how they targeted more than 300 people associated with Democratic campaign committees and the Clinton campaign to steal thousands of emails and distribute them

The indictment does not name any American citizens.

The conspirators corresponded with several Americans during the course of the conspiracy, through the internet. There is no allegation in the indictment that the Americans knew they were corresponding with Russian intelligence officers.

The announcement comes just days before President Trump is scheduled to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

Some Democrats calling for the summit to be canceled. But the White House says the meeting is still on for Monday.

Illinois senator Dick Durbin released a statement Friday that said, in part:

Illinois was one of the states that Russian hackers successfully targeted during the 2016 election. Up until today, it was our understanding that Russian hackers accessed approximately 90,000 voter registration records in Illinois alone. Today’s indictment stated that the individuals ‘hacked the website of a state board of elections… and stole information related to approximately 500,000 voters, including names, addresses, partial social security numbers, dates of birth, and driver’s license numbers.’ If this is in reference to the Illinois State Board of Elections, we must get to the bottom of it immediately.